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Obituary Fundraiser extraordinaire Ivan Beavis dies ages 69

IVAN BEAVIS, Morning Star Fighting Fund organiser and for many years its circulation and then campaigns manager, died yesterday aged 69.

Mr Beavis joined the paper in 1998 as circulation manager, later becoming campaigns manager.

Before working at the Morning Star he was an activist and rep with the National and Local Government Officers Association (Nalgo), being elected to its national executive in 1988. He stayed on the executive through Nalgo’s merger with fellow public-sector unions Nupe and Cohse to form Unison in 1993, stepping down in 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the Morning Star he remembered meeting Mr Beavis when he was Nalgo rep at County Hall, the headquarters of London government, and Mr Corbyn was the Nupe organiser.

“The staff association had more members,” Mr Corbyn recalled, “but under Ivan Nalgo membership grew and we worked very closely together.

“Ivan was dedicated to trade unionism and all progressive causes and was always a cheery presence on demonstrations.

“He raised money for the Morning Star and the increased presence of the Star is in part due to him.”

Morning Star political editor John Haylett said Mr Beavis was his first recruit to the paper following reinstatement as editor in 1998 following the journalists’ strike.

“He accepted my offer to come in as circulation manager. While he had sold countless Morning Stars beforehand, he and his then assistant Bernadette Keaveney” [now Morning Star circulation manager] had to learn the print trade, circulation and distribution from the bottom up.

“That our paper lives on is in no small measure due to their efforts.

“It is difficult to exaggerate the effect on staff morale of Ivan’s mere presence in our office, where his bubbly personality was an added bonus to the work he carried out.”